St. Thomas is a beautiful parish located along the south eastern coast of Jamaica, which is in close proximity to Jamaica's capitol city Kingston, and Portland on the north and the Caribbean sea on the south. The parish was said to have first been named St.Thomas to the east and was once apart of the old parish St.David. The parish is said to be one of the oldest in Jamaica with it;s history dating back to the arrival of Christopher Columbus.
It was noted that the original settlers in the parish were Arawaks (Tainos), who were present on in the parish when Columbus had arrived. After Columbus's arrival the Spaniards developed cattle farm which they called "Morante" which later become the Morant Bay and the capital town of St.Thomas.It was from here, where many Spaniards begun to settle in the parish, including Major Strokes who along with his wife died unfortunately from fever leaving their children who later established Stokes Hall Great House. Many of the Spaniards to the parish had also died from fever/ influenza.
Additionally, the parish was also the home to many ex-slaves called Maroons, whose descendants are still present in the parish to this day. Many of these ex-slaved had followed the Baptist Deacon Paul Bogle in the 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion. Bogle led a group of people from his home in Stoney Gut to the then capital Spanish Town. The Rebellion had started because of the unjust and unfair treatment of the black people, as there was a need for the improvement of their conditions.
Unfortunately, Bogle's voice went unheard, and thus led to the disruption of the Rebellion where over four hundred people including Bogle, lost their lives after being put to death for their role in the Rebellion. Bogle later became a National Hero for the heroism he displayed in trying to help his people.
Source:http://www.nlj.gov.jm/history-notes/History%20of%20St.Thomas%20Final.pdf
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